Whatever Was
by Serpens Caput
Summary: She thought she was saving him...but maybe it's not that simple.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I totally got sucked into the Glee universe this week. I know my readers are probably going to shoot me for starting yet another story but I couldn't resist! (I promise promise promise I'll be updating the other ones as soon as I can!!) So, I loveeed the Tina character (there's just so much potential backstory and stuff to explore with her!) and, of course, I LOVE PUCK because...I'm sure he's got a sweet side and he's so darn cute. But since the show doesn't really focus on Tina (or even on Puck beyond the occasional sexual dalliance) the characterization may not be quite what you expect. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy it!! Tell me if it's worth continuing! :D

Chapter One

* * *

Tina Cohen-Chang was having one of those days. You know, the kind that start with your alarm not going off because you forgot to turn it on as you collapsed into bed at four in the morning after a night of cramming for a test that you end being late to because of, well, you know…and ends with…well, she wasn't sure what yet, but she was sure it wasn't going to be good. At least Mr. Schuester had let her take the exam, something she still wasn't sure she should be grateful for because ten minutes to finish an hour exam was more than a little beyond her limited Spanish skills. And then he'd gone and given her that sympathetic, oh-you-poor-dear-scrambled-angsty-teenager-don't-worry-I-understand look that made her want to scream and pretend she still stuttered so she could run and hide somewhere, anywhere.

But she had 'fessed up, and now she couldn't hide behind the dumb stutter, so she'd half-grimaced-half-smiled as she fled at the final bell. Naturally, the day had gone downhill from there what with stupid slushies and tripping down a flight of stairs and then the history pop quiz (who the hell cared about federalists and their stupid papers, anyway?) and then…Tina sighed. At least Glee rehearsal was going well.

"Was" being the operative word apparently.

"Tina," Mr. Schuester said as rehearsal ended. "Could you come here for a moment?" He smiled in what was probably meant to be a reassuring way, but she couldn't ignore this sinking feeling that she was about to be lectured for her morning tardiness (only that _so_ wasn't fair because she'd only ever been late this one time…). She trudged toward him, messenger bag abandoned on a chair as her friends waved their farewells, and lifted an eyebrow at seeing resident bad-ass-wannabe Puck lingering on the piano bench by Mr. Schuester.

_Oh god, please don't let him yell at me in front of Puck …_

"Tina, I was hoping you could do me – and Glee – a favor."

She eyed him warily.

"As you know, there is a minimum GPA requirement for all students involved in extra-curricular activities," he began.

_He can't mean_…she glanced at Puck who had assumed an air of extreme boredom, complete with fingers twiddling along the piano keys.

"And Noah here seems to have let his grades fall a little-"

_Oh god, he does_…

"So I was hoping you could tutor him? Help him raise his grades a little?"

_Fuck._

"Um," she hesitated. Mr. Schuester looked at her pleadingly and she sighed, "Just, one question?"

"Yes?"

"Why me? Isn't this the kind of thing Rachel lives for?"

Puck snorted, though he quieted at Mr. Schuester's disapproving look. "As…true as that is," he said delicately, "Rachel has quite enough on her plate and I was…afraid that she and Noah would…"

"She's crazy," Puck said. Mr. Schuester looked relieved – though he tried, and failed, to cover it.

"_Noah_," he frowned.

"What? You know it's true," he said with a careless roll of his eyes.

"We don't insult our fellow Glee members."

"Whatever."

"Anyway, Tina, what do you say?" Mr. Schuester said.

"Sure," she replied, not quite graciously.

"Great! Here is his class schedule as well as the syllabi and relevant material and make work that his teachers have provided me with," he said handing her a several weighty manila folders. "Do you have any questions?"

"Not really," she said, leafing through the pages.

"Well, then I'll leave you two to it," Mr. Schuester said cheerfully. "Thank you for helping us out."

"Don't thank me yet," she muttered as he slipped out the door.

"Yea, thanks," Puck said as he moved to follow.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" she snapped.

"Home," he said, striding out of the classroom.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," she growled under her breath as she hurried after him. She caught him by the arm of his bright-blue hoodie and yanked.

"What is your problem?"

"You!"

"Ooh, little Gothicka's grown a spine," he grinned.

"Fuck you." _You little ass-mongering weasel…_

"And a voice," he said, smirk growing.

"Look, I want to do this probably about as much as you do-"

"So why are you then?" he said, voice cool and hazel eyes oddly piercing.

"Because," she sighed. "For better or worse you're one of us and replacing you would probably be impossible…unfortunately." She shook her head, "So get serious because you've got 11 people counting on you, 12 if add Mr. Schuester."

"Fine, but I have to get home."

"What?" she grabbed hold of his sweatshirt.

"Will you let go?"

"No!"

"Why the hell not?"

"Because we only have four weeks until Regionals and you have to raise your grade in _every_ class! We need to at least set up a meeting schedule."

"Fine, but I _have_ to go."

"Why? Got some chick you need to bang?" She could sneer too, _stupid annoying football players and their stupid…_

"No. A little sister that gets scared coming home to an empty house," he pulled his sweater from her grasp and strode quickly down the empty hallway.

_Oh. _

_Fuck._

Tina sighed. She knew she should've stayed home today.

A/N: Read and review? Please? Reviews = reader love


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks to all my readers and a special thanks to my first reviewer **HanaDear**! :D So here's the next chapter... Enjoy!

Chapter Two – Later that night….

* * *

"Let _f_ and _g_ be the functions given by _f_ of x equals…_that thing_…and the _g_ of _x_ equals that mess for all values x where x is less than or equal to 1 but greater than or equal to 0. The graphs of _f_ and _g_ are shown in the figure above," Tina mumbled to herself.

She blinked. "What the hell did I just read?"

"Okay," she inhaled slowly. "One more time. Let _f_ and _g_ be the…

Her phone chirped happily.

"Oh thank you god," she said dropping the pencil. "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Um, who is this?" she said as she glanced at the number. _Unknown…hmm…_

"Noah," and then as though he sensed she still had no idea who he was, he paused and added, "um..Puck."

"_Oh_, hi Puck …what's up?"

"Are you free right now?"

"Um," she hesitated. _To lie or not to lie…_ "Why?" she stalled.

"We could figure out this tutoring thing."

"Right, um…" A car door slammed and she frowned when she heard the heavy footsteps of her step-father come thumping into the house. _Shit_. _What is he doing home? _ "Yeah, now would be fine. Do you want to meet somewhere?"

"Your house okay?"

"You know where I live?"

"I hope so 'cause I just pulled up."

Her eyes widened as her hands unconsciously ran through her hair. She peeked through the filmy curtains of her bedroom window. _Yup, there he was. _His black pick-up truck cruised to a stop in front of her driveway and he stepped out of the car, nodding up at her before she had a chance to disappear out of sight. _Damn_.

She waved awkwardly in response before ducking away.

"TINA!" her stepfather, Roger, bellowed.

"You wanna meet me at the library? I think my parents are having company or something," she said, the lie slipping out easily.

"I can just drive us since I'm here."

"Oh. Yeah, just give me a minute?"

"Sure."

She tossed her phone into the messenger bag. The numerous files and papers were still in there and she was suddenly glad she'd been too lazy to empty it out. …_What am I missing?_ A chance glance in the mirror and she realized she'd already taken her heavy makeup off.

A couple of swipes of eye shadow (black, because it had just been that kind of day), a quick pat of her jean pockets to make sure she had some cash and her keys, one last deep breath and she felt ready to leave and face whatever was coming.

She hurried down the stairs as noiselessly as she could, hoping against hope that her stepfather was already ensconced in his office.

"Tina," he said, stepping out of some dark recess like a malevolent, archetypical nemesis. _Yeah, definitely been watching too many of those film composition lectures. God, I'm such a nerd. _

"You screeched?" she said, feigning a calmness she didn't feel.

"Watch your mouth," he said as his eyes flicked over her. She resisted the urge to shudder. "Where are you going?" his upper lip curled, probably at seeing her heavy 'streetwalker' make up.

"Out."

"So I deduced. Where?"

"To tutor a friend."

"It's quite late," he said pointedly.

"It's like _nine-thirty_."

"It's a school night and _what_ did I say about the word 'like'?" he said, taking a step toward her.

"Not to use it," she said backing up and damning the wall for stopping her.

"Perhaps you can learn," he said. "You're lucky your mother's due back shortly or I wouldn't allow you to leave at such a late hour."

She scuttled past him as he stepped away, flinching when he caught her by the arm.

"Be back by twelve."

**

Puck lounged in that careless, easy way all guys seem genetically gifted with.

Tina nearly laughed aloud as she hurried down her driveway. The world clearly had a sense of humor. How many times had she wished, however stupidly cliché it may be, for some gorgeous jock/prince to come sweeping in like some modern day romance novel and whisk her away to days and nights of perfect dates and lovey-dovey-stuff?

Instead, she got Puck – who, while quite fantastically good-looking, was not exactly the princely type and definitely not here to save her. If anything, she was coming to save his ass and though that might satisfy the feminist-crusader in her, it hardly fulfilled the part of her that wanted the fluffy, white fairy-tale.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

"About" "Look" they both began uncomfortably. They shared a glance (that for some dumb reason made her flutter a little) and a half-smile and just like that the afternoon was forgotten.

"So the library?" he said, getting into the truck.

Tina opened the door and hopped in, "Yeah…actually, it's probably closed by now."

"Good, I didn't know how to get there anyway."

"What!" she said, staring incredulously at him.

"What?"

"How could you-"she shook her head. "Okay, whatever. Know of anywhere else we could study?"

"There's this diner off Thunder Road that's got great pie and is normally pretty quiet. Sound okay?"

"Fine by me. I like pie," she said, brightening a little at the thought of pie.

He glanced at her oddly before he started the car.

She ignored it, though a thought occurred to her suddenly. "How'd you know where I live?"

"I stalk you."

There was a pause and she blinked several times in quick succession. "Okay. Well, then that makes what I'm about to tell you very awkward…I stalk you too."

"What?"

"Have you noticed we say that a lot?"

"You're joking right?"

"No, about half of our conversation consists of 'what' in varying intonations."

"About the stalking thing."

"I don't know. If you stalk me then you should know if I stalk you…unless you're very bad at stalking."

"I was kidding."

"Then I was too," she smiled placidly.

"Seriously, you don't right?" he said as he slid into a parking spot.

She rolled her eyes and slid out of the truck. "Calm your mow-hawked little head down. I don't stalk you. Honestly, you jocks can't ever take a joke. Even the ones you start."

"You're weird."

She scoffed, "I could say the same about you. Who says 'I stalk you' after creepily showing up in front of a person's house?" She paused in the doorway of the diner, a wide grin sliding into place at how "diner-y" it looked.

"It was not creepy. You know most girls would be flattered," he stepped around and took a seat at the long, silver-rimmed counter that stretched across the establishment

"Sure, but those are the same genius girls that would go waltzing up to crazy ax-murderers in a horror film."

"You're insane."

"And you still haven't answered my question."

"I cleaned the pool across from your house. Happened to see you as I was walking out and I guess I remembered," he shrugged.

"Is this the part where the ditzy blonde coos over being remembered?" she grinned, plopping down beside him.

"Don't flatter yourself. I saw the bright green streaks and wondered if your head was being attacked by a fungus. That kind of thing sticks in a guy's head."

"Aw and here I thought only boobs and butts did. Well, me and my fungus-covered head thank you for correcting that misperception. You're very good at the smooth-talking, by the way."

"Thanks. I thought the fungus line would get you."

Tina laughed, the sound bright and completely at odds with her dark-Goth-inspired getup. He grinned, feeling oddly pleased at being responsible for that sound.

"You know, I think this is the most I've ever heard you say," he remarked.

Later that night she would ponder that comment, wonder at the curious ease between them – something she'd never felt with anyone, not even Mercedes and Kurt who had spent the better part of the last semester prying and dragging her out of her cocoon. In the end, she'd dismiss her ruminating and just attribute it all to simple indifference. She had said what she wanted because she knew it wouldn't change the way he felt about her. He disparaged all of them and nothing would change that. But at this moment she simply said, "This is probably the most I've ever said to anyone, outside of Mercedes and Kurt at least. And, you know, I could say the same about you."

The arrival of the waitress saved him from answering.

"Hiya hons, what can I get you?" she said, cherry- painted lips pulling into a broad smile.

"Can I have a slice of French silk and a cup of coffee please?" she said softly.

"Absolutely darling. And you?" she said after a short scribble.

"A piece of apple pie and coffee, please."

"Sure, I'll have it out to you in a few moments," she said with another cherry smile.

"Thanks," Tina smiled, handing back their menus. She looked at Puck, "Okay, you ready to get started?"

He groaned, his head meeting the counter with a dramatic thump.

"Stop being a baby," she said, reaching into her bag to pull out the folders.

"Can't we just wait till after the pie?" he said, peeking up from the counter, his warm brown eyes pleading. "I don't wanna taint it with the thought of school."

"Fine," she relented, "but don't think it's because that goofy little face you just made worked."

"Goofy?" he said with an affronted frown.

"I can still change my mind. Would you-"

"No, ma'm," he saluted. "Goofy, it is."

Tina chuckled, "Shut up and eat your pie."

"Wh-," he blinked confusedly at the pie sitting in front of them. He looked over at their waitress who winked as she skated to serve another customer.

Had Tina been paying attention, she would've been quite amused by the whole display, but she wasn't. Instead, she was utterly occupied by her own pie, which was _divine_ – to steal from Kurt's vernacular.

"They have to put drugs in this," she remarked, her fork dangling thoughtfully from between her lips. He glanced up.

"It's good but it's not _that_ good."

"Not like your 'special' cupcakes?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he mumbled through a mouthful of pie.

"Sure. Although, for the record, I think we should avoid the use of any "magical" ingredients in our next bake sale."

"We're doing another bake sale?" he groaned.

"Your fault. You and your _cupcakes_ made so much cash that Mr. Schuester is convinced it's the best way to fundraise for regionals," she said, pointing her fork at him. "You've only got yourself to blame."

"Damn. What do we have to fundraise for anyway? We've still got some cash left from the last one."

"The bus, Rachel wants new uniforms, hotel rooms," she started, ticking them off her fingers.

"Wait, did you say hotel rooms?"

"Yes," she said slowly. "Why?"

He grinned.

"Okay, stop whatever dirty thought you have right now," she said.

"I don't know what you mean," he said innocently.

"Liar."

"Wait," he said abruptly, "what do you mean Rachel wants new uniforms?"

"Do you pay _any_ attention in Glee?" she said incredulously.

"Only when we're singing," he said with a negligent shrug.

"Bum."

Something flickered across his face, but in a flash he had a sly grin on as he said, "Yes, I kno-

"Anyway, Rachel wants all the boys to wear these ruffled blue satin dress shirts," Tina said, interrupting whatever 'bum/ass/butt' innuendo-laced comment he was about to make.

"What?!"

"See, this is why you should pay attention. The nays were just one vote short of vetoing her," she said, taking another bite. Her eyes closed as she savored the smooth chocolate taste. "Yum."

"Did you vote against it?"

"Hell no. I wanna see you and Finn and 'em prancing around the stage in whatever ridiculous getup Rachel comes up with," she smirked.

"But, if we don't raise enough money, we can't get the outfits. Right?" There was a definite edge of panic creeping into his voice.

"No, I'm pretty sure Rachel had the outfits prioritized as the first thing the money gets spent on. Something about fittings and motivation and glitter. I stopped paying attention when she mentioned the glitter."

"Just let me flunk out," he groaned, head hitting the counter again. "At least then it'd all end with some dignity." He expected some wry comment about his intelligence, but hearing nothing, he glanced over the crook of his elbow to see her trying vainly to restrain from giggling – a bizarre, yet strangely fitting, sight. She looked more natural laughing than that frowny-emo-glare thing she kept up at school.

His eyes widened, "THIS WAS ALL A JOKE?"

Whatever fleeting control she had over herself disappeared and she collapsed into a fit of laughter. "You – should've…." she gasped for air, "your face."

He waited till she had calmed enough to hear him before he said – only a little petulantly – "I can't believe you."

"Aw, don't pout," she teased. "I'm sure if you really want we could ask Rachel to get you pretty little ruffled shirts."

"Not funny," he said with a shudder. "Not funny at all."

"Relax," she grinned. "Rachel did want new outfits for god knows which number, but Mr. Schuester said it wasn't gonna happen until we raised the transportation and hotel costs firsts. And even then, we all need to agree."

"Good," he exhaled. "You know, you have a very large evil streak."

"It's a gift," she said. "Along with the ability to focus, unfortunately. I've got to be back home in a little over half an hour so we should probably get some work done." As much fun as she was having, Tina had a strong feeling that tonight was not a good night to play teenage rebel and test Roger and his curfew's limits.

"Oh, right, so…what do we do?" he tilted his head and she was suddenly struck by how adorable he was.

_Calm yourself girl. _

She busied herself taking out the stack of folders Mr. Schuester had given her and pretended to search for his class schedule. "Okay," she said, "finding" it and placing it on the counter. "Let's see when we can meet." Her black nailpolish adorned fingers ran along the sheet.

"What time do you get to school?" she asked.

"Twelve."

"Excuse me?"

"Twelve, around 5th period," he repeated.

"You skip your first four periods? Every day?"

"Yeah," he said. "I don't like waking up early."

She rolled her eyes. "That explains a lot. Okay, first of all, you're going to need to start going to class."

"Why?"

"What do you mean _why_?"

"Nothing interesting happens till lunch anyway."

"_Learning_," she emphasized, "happens. Just go to class."

"Fine, but only until regionals."

"Fine," she sighed. "But if we place you're going until nationals."

"Deal," he said, sticking out his hand.

"Great," she shook his hand with another roll of her eyes. "Okay, you've got math, biology, then gym-"

"Third's a free period."

She glanced at him quizzically.

"Football waiver."

"Ah. Well, I have an independent study then so we can use that as an emergency cram session if necessary," she said, making a quick notation on the sheet. "Hmm, lunch is the same time and," her finger trailed down the paper, "study hall. Perfect. If you transfer to my study ha-"

"But you're in a sophomore study hall."

"So?"

"I'm a junior."

"Fine, I'll transfer into _your_ study hall," she said, reorienting an arrow. "Happy?"

"Very," he said smugly.

"Okay, and then we should meet afterschool at least four times a week. What days do you have football practice and when do you have to be home to meet your sister?" she asked, glancing up from her notations.

"Let's see. Glee is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Football is Monday, Tuesday, and extended practice Thursday. And my sister gets home early Wednesday and Friday. If you don't mind, we could work at my house on the days I need to watch my sister."

"Works for me. That means we can meet Monday after football, Tuesday after Glee, Wednesday after Glee, and Thursday after football. And we can adjust the frequency once we figure out how much ground we need to cover. Sound okay?"

"Fine, I guess," he said, not looking terribly enthused at the prospect.

"Yeah, not super fun. I'll try and figure out what we should focus on and create a schedule for the makeup work. Why don't you come up with a list of topics you're having trouble with?"

"Sure."

"Excellent," Tina glanced at her watch. "I've got-"

"Curfew," he finished, sliding a ten onto the counter. "Come on."

"Oh, I –" she said, reaching for her wallet.

"Easy Gothicka. Least I can do is buy you a slice of pie," he said, voice a little gruff. He ushered her out before she could protest and before she knew it they were parked in front of her house.

"So, uh, thanks for the ride and the pie," she said, feeling a little out of her element. _What the hell did one say anyway? _

"No prob."

"I'll see you in study hall then?" she said as she opened the door and jumped out.

"Yeah. I'll see you."

She gave a quick wave – which she mentally lambasted herself for as she strode up the driveway – and tried to ignore the way her heart skipped a little at seeing him still sitting there, waiting to see that she got into her house okay. Another wave as she opened her house door (_Good god, what is with me and this damn waving thing?_), and she smiled contentedly as she slipped into the house and up the stairs.

Maybe today wasn't such a bad day after all.

* * *

A/N: Read and Review? Please? :D :D


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Ahhh, sorry. Real life is interrupting! Anyway, kind of a short chapter but I wanted to get it up asap. Lots of love to all my wonderful reviewers who are totally the reason I stay motivated and keep writing! Thanks to all my readers and reviewers! :D

Chapter Three - Thursday

* * *

Puck was perched on a desk, joking it up with a couple of his fellow footballers – the few ones that had forgiven him his Glee membership, a pardon only granted after a several insane catches in the last few games – when he saw Tina walk in.

Or rather, he heard Mike cheerfully exclaim "other Asian!" and glanced up to see Mike sliding past her to avoid a doorway collision.

She looked a little dazed by Mike's energetic greeting and more than a little confused when he herded her toward the corner that he and Matt occupied during study hall, not once pausing in his lighthearted chatter.

Her entrance did not go unnoticed by his circle, one of whom was quick to sneer, "Who let the freak in here?"

"She's here for me," Puck said.

"You _that_ hard up for some ass?"

"Trust me," he said with an easy grin, "never been a problem." A couple of good-natured hoots and smacked palms followed that pronouncement.

"Then why's she here?" Charlie challenged.

"Academic probation. Gonna get kicked off the team if I don't bring up some grades," he shrugged. "A guy's gotta _do_ what a guy's gotta do." He let the innuendo slip through, ignoring the way his stomach roiled at his own words. He wasn't sure why it bothered him; sexual insinuations were as much a part of the Puck Persona as the Mohawk, but…a little part of him, a very little part, couldn't help but twinge guiltily for the comment.

Another chorus hoots arose, and Puck grinned the expected grin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some _studying_ to do," he winked. And with a couple of back slaps and nods, Puck headed toward Tina.

"Hey," he said, straddling the empty chair near the trio.

"Puck-man!" Mike exclaimed. Matt nodded from beside him.

"Chang. Rutherford. What're you guys doing?" he said, glancing curiously at the notebook paper that Mike was currently scribbling on.

"Did you know this girl doesn't know how to play Super Smash Bro!" Mike said, scrawling another indecipherable symbol.

"What?" Puck said, head snapping toward her.

Tina rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you too."

"You don't know how to play Super Smash?!"

"I don't even know what it is," she sighed. "Except that it apparently involves bubbles that blow bubbles?"

"That…is…so…wrong," said Puck.

"You're telling me!" Mike retorted. "That is not a bubble," he said, point vigorously at a blob. "It's _Kirby_. And he doesn't blow bubbles, he…I'll just start over. Okay, the way the game work is –"

"Easy Chang," Puck interrupted. "We'll teach her the game later. Other Chang, you ready?"

"Other Chang?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"If I said Chang you'd both answer. This way is easier," he said with a shrug.

"Because 'Tina' is much more difficult."

"Yes."

"Fine, _Puckerman_."

"Woah," Mike spoke up. "Calm vibes people. And what about my diagram?" he said, waving the sheet insistently.

"We'll teach her later."

"Fine," Mike said with a forlorn glance at his illustrations.

"Come on Other Chang, let's start this teaching-learning thing," Puck said, standing up.

"What? Where are you going?" Mike exclaimed.

"To study," Puck said slowly.

"But Tina promised she'd help us with the math homework," Mike said.

Puck looked over at Tina, who shrugged helplessly. "You need to do it too. Figured I'd kill two – three, I guess- birds with one stone."

He sighed, and resettled himself in the chair. "Okay. Teach."

Tina rolled her eyes. "I need the assignment and a book."

"I don't have it," Puck said with a careless lift of his shoulders. "What? I don't carry books."

"Too heavy?" Tina said innocently.

"Funny."

"Burnn," Mike grinned, holding out a hand – which she slapped with a satisfied smirk.

Puck scoffed, flexing his arms. "As if. Just look at these guns."

Tina's eyes widened slightly, though she tried valiantly to hide it. It was Matt that saved her from stuttering (for real this time) something embarrassing.

"Here's the book," Matt said, pushing the open textbook toward her. "And we're supposed to get through the first thirty problems, odds only, of Chapter 12."

She smiled gratefully at him, "Okay. Let's see what we have here." Paging quickly through the chapter, she nodded, "Trigonometric functions. So, you'll want to make some flashcards later so you can start memorizing them, but for now let's just start with the problems. What you want to do when you're proving the equation of two functions is you want to manipulate the…" she trailed off, having caught sight of the growingly glazed eyes of all three guys.

"Does that make sense?" she asked hesitantly.

They shook their heads.

"Um, where specifically?"

Matt spoke up, "Friedlson is a kind of crappy teacher."

"Okay. Should I start with how the trigonometric identities are derived?...I'm going to take the silence as a yes. So, trig comes from triangles. Basically, some guy did a bunch of calculations and found these relationships between the side lengths of triangles and their angles. When you have…"

Puck listened, which he'd never admit to, intently. There was something strangely captivating about her teaching, the way her brow furrowed slightly as she tried to condense all the information, the strange little diagrams and analogies she was coming up with, the way she tapped her pencil against her lips as she considered what to say next.

He didn't know why, but he was suddenly looking forward to studying.

A lot.

A/N: Review? Please? :D :D


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: OMG, you guys are fantastic! Thanks SO MUCH for all the reader love :D :D. Sorry it's taken me so long but got finals and mcats and blargh...anyway...the updating frequency will DRAMATICALLY increase after May 22, but i'll hopefully get another one or two up before then. Reviews always encourage me to write, hint hint. :D Hope you like the chappie!

Chapter Four – Thursday

* * *

Tina was a little peeved.

She was all for extra Glee practices because god knows she wanted to win Regionals and keep Glee alive and well, but damnit there was a limit to how much singing a person could do. At least, there was for normal people, she thought with a particularly pointed glare at Rachel Berry.

Rachel smiled cheerily at her in response.

Damn Berry.

Tina wasn't sure how she'd done it, but somehow she'd convinced Mr. Schue to call an extra Glee practice – a practice which struck Tina as being completely and utterly pointless because all the football players and Cheerios had _practice_. And now that Mercedes and Kurt had defected to the dark side – she still could not believe they'd joined the Cheerios. Why anyone would willingly put themselves under Sue Sylvester's thumb was beyond her (Tina resolutely ignored the tiny part of her that knew she would have flounced happily along with their insanity and probably even worn the far-too-cheery-for-her-emoness-Cheerio-uniform if they had asked. And no, damnit, it didn't bother her that they hadn't dragged her along. They were doing her a favor, because she wasn't the Cheerio type and of course it didn't bother her that they hadn't even thought to include her. Nope, didn't bother her at all.) - wait…what was she saying… Oh right.

Now that Mercedes and Kurt, The Betrayers (of Glee, not her…because the Cheerio Defection of '10 didn't bother her at all), had joined the evilness, they were down to THREE Gleeks.

Three.

But, of course, that didn't matter to Evil Rachel. And, of course, it wouldn't occur to her that other people could possibly have plans for their after-school time.

Tina sighed.

It had been such a good plan. Thursdays were the 'de-stress, mental health preservation' day. She spent the whole stupid week looking forward to them.

Right after school ended she'd wander through the library and pick out a book (the trashier the better because there was nothing more relaxing than pure, unadulterated crap), which she'd then hide in some textbook or intelligent looking periodical or something.

Then, she'd walk the three or so blocks over to Russo's and get the BEST berry smoothie…EVER. And she'd sit and read her crap and drink her smoothie of sin. Sometimes, she'd grab a nice, rich brownie for the walk home – you know, just to keep things interesting.

But then Stupid Berry had to go and screw things up.

Tina had just found her book ('Dashing Through the Flames of Turmoil,' which came complete with a quite studly looking, shirtless man on its cover) and was in the process of hiding it in a musty looking Hemingway book when Berry pops up behind her, scaring the shit out of her – and no, she did not scream girlishly, no matter what Berry claimed. She started babbling something or other (all the Gleeks had developed a very good mental filter, because if you tried to listen to all the crap Berry sprouted you'd probably die…or…drown under the multisyllabic vomit or something. It wouldn't be good.) and when Tina didn't move, she'd just gone and grabbed her by the arm and dragged her toward the Glee rehearsal room.

Artie was already there, idly strumming on his guitar, and there looked to be…blocks??...in front of his wheelchair wheels. He shot her a small smile, which she ignored because until he apologized for completely shutting her out (come on, faking a stutter was _so_ not that big of a deal….all the other Gleeks had forgiven and forgotten in like five minutes) for the past month. She plopped into the seat furthest from him.

Berry rolled her eyes at them and disappeared, reappearing moments later with Mr. Schue following slowly behind her.

"Mr. Schuester has an announcement," she said in that grandiose way of hers before daintily taking a seat beside Tina.

"Rachel, this really could have waited until tomorrow. There was no need to call an extra practice," he said, shooting the other two an apologetic look.

"Mr. Schuester, it is my firm belief that your rather spectacular idea necessitated immediate action – particularly given the current state of things," she said, gesturing around them. She stood up, and Tina rolled her eyes. Because how could Rachel ignore the change to turn the answer to a rhetorical question into a speech?

"It has come to my – and thus Mr. Schuester's – attention, that the focus of our fellow Glee members has wandered into other arenas of interest. And, while I am personally all for diversification of interests – I myself do explore the multiple hobbies which include musical and non-musical theatre, various academic pursuits and," she paused when Mr. Schuester coughed pointedly. "Would you like a cough drop Mr. Schuester? I have several in my purse because I believe that all young ingénues must carry the necessary arsenal to preserve their most valuable possession, their instrument."

"Will you get to the point?" Artie said suddenly.

Berry frowned. "Very well. As I was saying, the sudden decision of our fellow members to broaden their horizons has equated to a decreased interest and focus on Glee. This, I believe, has the potential for many negative repercussions, particularly at such an ill-fated time. Regionals are just weeks away and now is not the moment for such explorations. However, Mr. Schuester has insisted that we cannot stymie our Glee friends' growth. But, he has created quite an ingenious exercise that is certain to strengthen the bonds of Glee-dom and further reinforce the importance of Glee and focused interests.-

"Thank you, Rachel," Mr. Schuester said, finally interrupting. "As Rachel stated, a lot of Glee members have decided to pursue other things and a large reason for this – at least, according to Kurt and Mercedes – is because Glee has failed to provide enough opportunities for all its members to shine.

"Well, we're going to fix that. I've decided to offer you three an opportunity. You will each select three names from this hat," he said, pulling out a well-worn fedora. "It will be your job to choose and choreograph a set of songs of your choice. There are only two requirements: one, that every one of the four selected people is showcased; and two, that the whole set be between ten and twenty-five minutes. You'll have two weeks to work with them, and , at the end your groups will perform. The whole club will then vote on who's set was best. The winner will be allowed to select one of the songs for Regionals, whatever they'd like, and choose who they'd like to sing solo on that song."

Tina blinked.

Well, there went all her free time for the next two weeks. She reached into Mr. Schue's hat.

_Noah Puckerman. Mike Chang. Quinn Fabray._

And she got the Baby Drama Couple.

Tina sighed.

Damn.

A/N: Reviews = Love = Faster Updating! :D 3


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Oh my god, you guys are amazing! Your reviews and getting the story-author-alerts-favs in my email totally got me through the hellish last few weeks. Now that I'm officially on break (WOOO!) my goal is to get all my stories updated, and hopefully update this one at least once a week! :D Thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers! :D

Oh, and this chapter is a little spazzy cuz I wrote it literally right after my MCATs. So it definitely kind of wandered away from me...hope you enjoy anyway!

**Chapter Five – Thursday (Post Impromptu Glee Practice)**

* * *

"What's up with you?" Puck said, quirking an eyebrow when he saw her growl – literally – as she shoved her books haphazardly about.

"Jesus _christ_," Tina said, jumping at his sudden appearance. She glanced up and down the empty hallway. "How – _where_ did you come from?"

"Well, when a man and a woman love each other-"

"Ew," she grimaced, "I retract my previous question."

"Sex is-"

"Stop. Now. Please."

"Someone needs a little action. You know, the Puckerone is always available to scratch that itch…,"he said, waggling his eyebrows in a decidedly indecent way.

"I don't even want to know," she sighed, turning back toward her locker.

"Okay. Seriously, what's got you all super-emo?"

"Super emo?"

"Whatever. You're doing that sulky chick thing," he said, leaning against the lockers. He paused and grimaced, "Is it…you know…cuz if it is, I don't want to know."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, closing her locker.

"You know," he said, rolling his eyes. "The week of fun-lessness….happens once a month to gir-"

She snorted. "The week of fun-lessness? Why do I have the feeling that's more about you than the girl?"

"Well, the Puckerone can't get any when its, you know, so yeah. It's the week of fun-lessness."

"You're an idiot."

"That's a yes, then," he muttered.

"It is not a yes! Since you're gonna find out tomorrow anyway, Mr. Schue – actually, it's really all Rachel – has decided that we're breaking into groups of 3 to compete for the chance to choose one of the Regional songs."

"And?"

"And me, Rachel, and Artie are each in charge of a group."

"And?"

"And? Do you have any idea how long it's going to take to put together a whole set for four people? And it's such a pointless exercise. Everyone knows Rachel's gonna win, choose some dumb Broadway piece that 'perfectly accentuates her promising potential as a future Broadway star and highlight her meticulously developed, expansive vocal range' while the rest of us sway like palm trees behind her," she finished, a little breathlessly.

"Dude. You need to chill."

She stared at him. "Now I don't feel guilty about trading you."

"You traded me?" he exclaimed.

"Yup. Rachel had Matt and I couldn't break up the Matt-Mike duo, so…" she grinned a little maliciously, "enjoy working with Rachel."

"Wha-" he said, eyes wide and mouth open.

"You know, I heard she was thinking about doing that one Wicked song," she tapped her finger against her chin. "Popular, I think it was? I'm pretty sure she mentioned something about transposing Glinda the Good Witch's part into your key so it could be a duet…"

"Fuck. The shoe song?"

"Holy crap, I can't believe you've heard it!" Tina exclaimed, "Mr. Testostero-"

"My sister's a freak, okay?" he snapped. "It's not –"

"Oh my god. I just got the Puckerone thing. Is this your way of making yourself sound more masculine? Puck – testosterone. Puckerone…"

"What? No!"

"It all makes sense now. You know Freud would have something to say about this whole overcompensating thing."

"What?"

"You know you can tell me anything," she grinned teasingly. "I promise I won't judge."

"Ther- I- wh- There's nothing to tell!"

"Sure," she said, patting his arm. "My door's always open."

"Really?" he said, half-smirk-half-leer. "Bec-"

"Ew. Enough with the sexual innuendo already."

"Says the one who all but wrote it for me."

"Fish can choose not to bite," she giggled.

"What?"

"Oh, sorry. I figured with all your girly loves, you'd be an avid Gilmore Girls fan. Has it not progressed that far yet?"

"You're not funny," he frowned.

"Clearly a lie. I'm hilarious," she beamed.

"I think you heard them wrong. Little hint, they meant _insane_."

"Lies."

"Anyone who would trade the great Puckero-

Tina giggled.

"I-"

She giggled again.

"Fuck. You know what I mean! I can't believe you traded me!" he said, pouting – just a little, it wasn't even pouting it was more frowning. Yes, frowning, because damnit he was _Puck_. Who the hell would trade him? And it was just his ego that was bothered, not his feelings because he was Puck and Puck spat at feelings. He didn't know what feelings were. He-

She was grinning at him. Full on, just grinning.

"What?" he said irritably.

"You _do_ care!"

"What? I do n-"

"See, now I do feel a little bad," she sighed.

"You should! I'm _Puck_."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know. And relax, I didn't trade you. Tried to swap Quinn for Matt though, but Rachel had to get all moral and preachy and crap. Honestly, a simple 'no' would've sufficed."

"You didn't trade me?"

"Nope. "

"Really?"

"Yes, really. And, sorry about the whole screwing with you thing," she said, "And don't make that dirty."

"Damn."

"Really," she said, placing a hand lightly against his arm. "I didn't mean to hur-." She stopped, and Puck wondered for a moment if he had made a face or something, but she continued quickly, "I was just peeved and I just…anyway. I didn't mean anything by it, really. I wouldn't trade you for anyone an-"

"Chill," he said, pressing his palm against her lips because _damn_ the girl could babble once she got started. "It's cool. Funny too. Hell, we should totally mess with Mike cuz that boy has got a freakin' phobia the size of Montana when it comes to Berry."

"Montana?" she asked once he'd moved his hand.

"Yeah. Ask him about his dream about being trapped on a berry farm in Montana with Berry. It's some funny shit, he even gets all nervous and twitchy."

"Seriously?" she laughed. "You know, you totally just made my day."

"Yeah, well," he ran his hand through his Mohawk, "couldn't let your super-emo-funk get all you know, overwhelming or something."

She grinned, "Aww, you big softie."

"Whatever. Let's go," he said, pushing off from the lockers and heading toward the doors. Not hearing her behind him, he paused and glanced back at her, "Come on, don't we have like learning or some shit like that to do?"

She rolled her eyes and hurried toward him, "Yes. And the first thing we're gonna do is teach you how to speak without profanity."

"Says the one who curses more than me," he scoffed.

"I do not!"

"Sure. Ten bucks says you swear before I do," he said, holding the front door open for her. What? His mom taught him how to be a gentleman and stuff.

"Add a slice of pie and you're on."

Puck grinned widely. "Deal."

A/N: Reader 3 = Review. Please? :D


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